


Humans of New York Series - Spider-Man

by alessandriana



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Mixed Media, humans of new york
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-19 18:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17606981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandriana/pseuds/alessandriana
Summary: A collection of HONY posts featuring our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [attackonomelas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/attackonomelas/gifts).



> With apologies to Brandon Stanton. The real HONY is available at <https://www.facebook.com/pg/humansofnewyork>, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

"I spent three years trying to get up there. Avengers Tower. It was my goal. The ultimate climb-- take a picture next to that logo, you know? But the security was so locked down you couldn't get within ten feet of it. If you did get in, all the doors were bio-locked, and no joke, the security system had lasers! I must've gotten thrown out of there eight times. Finally I gave up. I wasn't gonna be no Captain Ahab, and there's plenty of other buildings in the city to climb. Then last week I find out it'd been sold, and they're starting renovations. I couldn't help it. I called in sick to work, grabbed my gear, and went for it. Sure enough, they'd turned off the security system so the construction workers could get in. I get through the back door and find out the elevators are disabled. So I climbed. 93 stories. I've never been that tired; my legs were shaking. But I did it. And at the top, what do I see? Spider-Man. Guy's just hanging out up there. I figure he's going to kick me out, but all he does is he asks me if I'm planning to jump. I say no, he shrugs and tells me to have fun then, and he leaves me alone to take my pictures. You could tell he was keeping an eye out to make sure I didn't fall, though. I got a lot of great shots of me and the logo and all, but this is my favorite."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Base photo courtesy of [Lukas Hartmann](https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-person-holding-black-camera-1367202/); the shot of Spider-Man comes from the PS4 game.


	2. Chapter 2

"I was twenty-three when Spider-Man first appeared. I was in my second year of an MBA program, and I had just gotten a paid summer internship at a big name company. My parents always said business was the most sensible career field. Gods and aliens might be running around the streets, but capitalism marches on. I didn't love it, but who loves their job, right? Then one day I'm riding the elevators up to work, one of those fancy glass ones on the outside of the building, and I look out and some guy in red and blue spandex comes crawling across the glass. No wires or anything, he's just sticking to it like gravity turned sideways. We're all standing there with our mouths open, and he waves, then swings off to save the city or whatever. I know it's not a crazy story. Everyone in New York has one just like it, running into one superhero or another. But it got me thinking. Whoever Spider-Man is, he's not an Avenger, and the government isn't bankrolling him. He must have a day job too. Being Spider-Man is his side hustle! That was when I decided if this guy can juggle work with fighting crime, I can manage a side job too, doing something I love. So I'm still working at the big name company. But I'm saving up, and in a couple months I'm going to open a photography business. And I'm calling it Glass Spider Studios."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Photo courtesy of [Neil Hester on flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilhester/8715909158/in/album-72157633381160773/) (CC BY-NC 2.0).


	3. Chapter 3

"We met because of Spider-Man. There was a movie showing in the park, and I'd gone with some friends. Mike was walking his dog nearby. I remember it was a documentary about Captain America, and they were in the middle of an interview with Peggy Carter when this guy wearing a creepy green mask screamed through the park on a floating hoverboard, Spider-Man right on his heels. He grabbed me, I guess to use as a hostage, and I hit him with my purse. Repeatedly. Unfortunately we were twenty feet in the air when he dropped me. I was pretty sure I was about to die, but Spider-Man swung by and webbed me to a tree. What they don't tell you is that stuff's still sticky for a few minutes afterwards, so when poor Mike, who was closest, came over to rescue me, he got stuck to the tree as well. It takes a couple hours to disintegrate, so we had plenty of time to get to know each other before the fire department was able to cut us down. But hey, it worked out. We're getting married next year."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Photo courtesy of [Mack Male on flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/mastermaq/11600145904/) (CC BY-SA 2.0).


	4. Chapter 4

"Spider-Man comes here sometimes. Always gets the dim sum. Pays in cash. I try not to think about where he keeps it in that costume. I don't think it has pockets."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Photo courtesy of [Neil Hester on flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/neilhester/8698944745/in/album-72157633381160773/) (CC BY-NC 2.0).


	5. Chapter 5

"I lost my son David six months ago. There was a gas explosion in his building, and he didn't make it out. Smoke inhalation. Spider-Man was about five minutes too late to save him. I was so, so angry for the longest time. Why couldn't he have gotten there a little faster? Why was he able to save everyone else, but not my son? Finally my wife threatened to divorce me if I didn't go see a grief counselor. Yesterday was our fourth session. She showed me a video from the accident-- I'd been avoiding watching it. And you can see Spider-Man swing across the frame. He's moving so fast it's barely a blur. And he crawls in through a window and starts pulling people out, one after another, and you can tell he's trying his damndest. I don't know. I need to think about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Photo courtesy of [International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center on flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/7178700620) (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).


	6. Chapter 6

 

"I got into it to save people. I mean, not much of a surprise there. 'Superhero wants to save people, news at 11!' But I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. When you can do the things I can do, if you don't help people, it's your fault when bad things happen. And I'd been watching the Avengers for years, ever since Mr. Stark came out as Iron Man. So I started trying to fight crime early on. In hindsight, it's probably a good thing it's actually kind of hard to find crime! I was running around in this homemade costume with a ski mask and goggles. And I was still figuring out my powers, so sometimes I would get stuck to things and not be able to get unstuck, or I'd try to jump between buildings and undershoot and go splat against a wall, or whatever. This one time I was swinging around trying to return someone's lost dog and it got so scared it starting peeing in mid-air. Just this yellow arc splattering across the pavement below. I think there's Youtube video of it. Not my finest moment. I was about ready to quit, actually. But two days after that, I'm headed through Park Slope and this lady steps in front of a taxi without looking. I had maybe half a second and I managed to grab her with my web and pull her out of the way. And she's crying she's so grateful. I find out afterwards she's 82 and she has five grandchildren. That's five kids who will still have their grandma because of me. After that, I knew I had to keep going."

** Comments: **

_Humans of New York_ : Since I know it's the first thing you guys in the comment section are going to ask: yes, I'm fine. The Rhino tried to rob the bank I was in. I waited until our webslinging guest was done before I asked for the interview.

    _Heidi Bianca:_ Priorities! (Glad you're okay!)

 _Ned Leeds_ : Here's the link to the video! http://youtube.com/

 _Peter Parker:_ Nobody wanted to see that, man!

     _Michelle Jones:_ Sure is what I came here for

 _Casey Genwic:_ "Mr. Stark" How old IS this guy???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Photo is a screenshot from the PS4 game, courtesy of [Jorge Figueroa on flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiff01/43234628020/in/album-72157674041708448/).


	7. Bonus

"Spider-Man? HE'S A MENACE!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Base photo by [Elvert Barnes](https://www.flickr.com/photos/perspective/120819055/in/album-72057594057417785/) (CC-BY 2.0).
> 
> Daily Bugle taken from [one of the original movie props](http://www.spiderfan.org/title/comics/daily_bugle_props.html).
> 
> Stan Lee's forehead courtesy of [Gage Skidmore](https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/14201948170/) (CC-BY-SA 2.0).
> 
> Please forgive my extremely mediocre photoshop skills...


End file.
